Weft-replenishing loom



June 26, 1928 A. A. GORDON WEFT REPLENISHING LOOM Filed March 19, 1925 3Sheets-Sheet l Julie 26, 1928. 1,674,860

A. A. GORDON WEFT, REPLENISHING LOOM Filed March 19, 1925 a Sheets-Sheet2 I 4'5 I l 3;

HTTOIPIVEZS June 26, 1928.

A. A. GORDON WEFT REPLENISHING LOOM 3 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed March 19, 1925I/VVE/V TOE:

IYIEEFT IZG'O'PDDN HTTa/F'NE -53 Patented June 2, l9

err a ALBERT A... GORDON, F WORCE ass, or

srnn, massacnnsnrrs, Assrsnon 'lO .CROMPTON & wononsrnn.viAssAcHUsE'r'rs, A CORPORATION OF WEFT-REPLE NISHING LQOIVI.

Application filed March 19, 1925. Serial No. 16,791.

This invention relates to a replenishing loom of the type in which aplurality of ,shifting' shuttle boxes are provided on the magazine endof the loom tial construction in pick a It is one object of my a new andimproved arr shuttle boxes, by which the replacement an exhausted bobbinis f by which any selected which is an essennd pick looms.

invention to provide angeinent of such acilitated.

Another object is to provide a construction I shuttle box may be broughtto operative position by movement over a mmlmum distance.

A further feature of my invention relates to the, provision of improveddevices for supporting the shuttle boxes for movement "in a closed path,

and for guiding a discharged bobbin and preventing lodgment thereof inthe moving par ts of the loom.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhichwill behereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe A preferred form of shown in the drawings,

appended claims. the invention is in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofthe left hand side of a loom, with the shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation-of the 9 right hand side of the loom,

usual drop boxes with my improvements applied thereto:

1 1g. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the magazine end of the layand parts mounted thereon boxes and thestructure su Fig. 4 is an endelevation of the shuttle pporting the same,-

looking in the; direction of the arrow 4 in rection of the arrow 7 inFigs.

Fig. 8 is a sectional-fro along tlieline 8- 8, in Fig. 4

45 Fig. 9 is a partial end at the non-replenishing end of a lay 11 andactuated by pattern-controlled drop-b0x mechanism of any usual type. I

For the purposes of this application, I

- have indicated a lever 12 pivoted at 13 to the bothof-the pinions 19and 20, the lever 12 -may be given a plurality of selected angularpositions, thus raising and lowering the drop boxes 10. The drop boxmechanism thus described is old in the art and forms no part of mypresent invention.

I have also provided a second pair of pinions 22 and 23 connected bylinks 24 and 25 to a pair of lever arms 26 and 27. These arms 26 and 27are mounted on shafts 28 and 29 supported in brackets 30 on the loomframe and extending across the loom to the magazine end thereof.Actuating arms 31 and .32 are mounted on the magazine ends of theshafts28 and 29 respectively andcontrol the movements of shifting shuttleboxes at the magazine end of the loom aswill be hereinafter described.

I have shown three shuttle boxes 35 at the magazine side of the loom,these shut- 1 tle boxes being mounted upon a support 86 which isrotatable in bearings or brackets 37 and 38 formed on a lay end 39. Thislay end is preferably secured to the lay 11, al-

' though it is within the scope of my invention nal end elevations, and6-6 in Fig. 3; looking in the di- 3 and 4;

nt elevation, and elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow'9 inFig. 3;

' Referring to the drawings,

my invention applied to'a weft replenishing;

I have shown loomhaving three shifting shuttle boxes at each end ofthelay and a of operation as a pick a ccordingly capable nd pick pickingmechanism being. omitted. I have I shown three. shuttle boxes usual"type supported, for

10 (Fig. 1) of the vertical movement taken v loom, the

to mount the lay end 39 for movement independent of the lay.

The details of construction of the support 86 and its bearings are bestshown in Fig. 8, in which it will be seen that the support-36 isprovided with a disc or head 40 rotatable on ball bearings 41 in thebracket 37. At its opposite end the support 36 has an extension 42having a roller bearing 48, the inner ring of which is mounted .upon astud 44 fixed inthe bracketBS. A gear 45 is fastened to a flange on theend of the extension 42 and constitutes means for rotating the shuttlebox support 36.

A fixed bobbin guide 46 is mounted on the stud 44 and has a hearing atits outer end tating the support 36 to selectively positionv in thesupport 36. The guide 46 is held from rotation and is provided with bobbin passage 47 for a purpose to be explained.

In the preferred form of my invention, three shuttle boxes only are usedon the rotary support 36, but certain features of my invention are ofmore general application and as to such features I do not wish to belimited to a specific number of boxes.

The running shuttle is always in the upper or horizontally positionedbox 35 and is actuated by a picker 48 slidable on a fixed rod 49actuated by the usual picker stick 50. Each shuttle box 35 is open atits upper side, as indicated at 51 in Figs. 6 and 8, to admit a freshbobbin andis also open, as shown at 52 at the bottom ofthe box to permitejection of the exhausted bobbin.

heference to Fig. 6 will show that the open ing 52 in the bottom of theshuttle box is aligned with the opening 47 in the guide member 46previously described. It also appears from Fig. 6 that the shuttle boxes35 are spaced apart sufiiciently to provide openings between the boxesat least equal in width to the openings 47 and 52.

Where an odd number of shuttle boxes is used, one of the spaces betweenthe boxes will be directly below the guide opening 47 when any one ofthe boxes 35 is in operative position. The ejected bobbin thus has aclear passage downward to the bobbin can or or other receptacle for theejected bobbins.

I will now describe the mechanism for rothe shuttle boxes 35. For thispurpose I have provided a pair of rack bars 55 mounted at the upper endof a rod 56 which is pivoted at its lower end to the actuating lever 32.I have also provided a cross slide 57 (Fig. 9) having rolls 58 engagingthe outer faces of the rack bars 55.

The slide bar 57 is mounted in guideways 59 (Fig. 8) in the bracket 38-and is provided with a stud 60 projecting into a cam slot 61 (Fig. 9) ina cam plate 62 mounted on the upper end of a rod 63 which is pivoted atits lower end to the actuating arm 31. The cam plate 62 is slidable inguideways 64 (Fig. 7) in the bracket 38" (Fig. 8) and determines thetransverse position of the slide bar 57 and the rolls 58.

Asthe pinion 23 (Fig. 1) isgiven partial rotations to raise. or lowerthe lever 27 the rod 63 is correspondingly lowered or raised and theslide bar 57 is moved to the left or right to cause one or the other ofthe rack bars 55 to engage withthe gear 45 on the shuttle support.Subsequent partial rotation of the pinion 22 will raise or lowerthe rod56 and rack bars 55, thusrotating the shuttle support in one directionor the other, depending on which rack bar engages the gear 45.

in Fig. 1, it is frequently necessary'to move the space of two or moreboxes in order'to change from an upper to a lower box. By

this decreased movement I am also able to decrease the time required forpositioning the box and I thus have more time available for the transferof the bobbin.

The magazine mechanism indicated in Fig. 2 is illustrative only andcomprises a portion ofv a rotary multi-color magazine of the type fullyshown and described in the patent to Ryon, No. 966,402, patented August2, 1910. For the purposes of this application it is sufficient to statethat the rotary magazine 70 is provided with bobbins in sets of three,one for each shuttle, and that the magazine is adjusted to bring abobbin corresponding to the running shuttle to transfer position by therotation of a worm 71 engaging a worm wheel 7 2 on the magazine. Theworm 71 is mounted on a shaft 7 3 which is rotated backward andforward'in accordance with the box changes and which is also given adirect endwise movement to advance the magazine .tothe next series ofbobbins, as soon as one of the bobbins in a series has been transferred.For a further description of this mechanism reference is made to theRyon patent above cited.

Having described my invention and the advantages thereof, the method ofoperation will be apparent without further description. It will be alsoevident that changes and modifications can be made within the spirit andscope of my invention as set forth in the claims and I do not wish to beotherwise limited to the details herein disclosed but what I claim is 1.In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, more thantwo shuttle boxesmounted atthe magazine end of the loom, means to support said boxes formovement in a circular path, and'selective means'efiective to move saidboxes in either direction at any time said means being thereby effectiveto present any selected box in operative position at any time by arotary movement of said boxthrough a single space only.

2. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, more than two shuttle boxesmounted at the magazine end of the loom, shuttles for said boxes havinga bobbin passage from top to bottom thereof, said boxes havingcorresponding openings in their shuttle supl boxes,

all)

i provided with a porting surfaces, means to support said boxes formovement in a circular path, and actuating means to bring any selectedbox to operative position on any selected pick.

3. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which an oddnumber of boxes is provided, and in which said boxes are spaced apart toprovide discharge openings for ejected bobbins between adjacent boxes.l. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which thesupporting means is provided With an axially extended and downwardlydirected passage through which a bobbin may be ejected.

5. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which thesupporting means is rotatably mounted, in which three shuttle boxes aremounted on said rotary support and in which the actuating means isselectively operated to bring any selected box to operative position bymovement equal to the distance between two adjacent box centers.

6. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which thesupporting means is gear, in which the actuating means is provided withspaced rack bars, and in which selective means is provided to move saidrack bars to engage a selected rack bar with said gear before actuatingmovement of said bars.

7. In a loom, an odd number of shuttle shuttles for said boxes, a rotarysupport on which said boxes are mounted in spaced relation, andselective means to rotate said support to bring a selected box tooperative position, said shuttles, said shuttle boxes, and said supporteach having openings therein forming a discharge passage for anexhausted bobbin from a running shuttle, said boxes being spaced apartto permit passage of the discharged bobbin between the two lowermostboxes.

8. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine. a lay, a plurality ofshuttle boxes mounted on a rotary support at the magazine end of thelay, a gear on said support, a pair of rack bars vertically slidable oneat each side of said gear, means to definitely space said bars apart atall times so that a single rack bar only gear at any one time, andpattern controlled meansto move said bars laterally to cause a selectedbar only to engage said gear.

9. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, a lay, a plurality ofshuttle boxes mounted on a rotary support at the magazine end of thelay, a gear on said support, a pair of rack bars vertically slidable oneat each side of said gear but spaced apart to permit a single rack baronly to engage with said gear at any one time, a transversely slidablemember connected with said rack bars, and pattern controlled means tomove said member.

10. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, a lay, a plurality ofshuttle boxes mounted on a rotary support at the magazine end of thelay, a gear on said support, a pair of rack bars vertically slidable oneat each side of said gear but spaced apart to permit a single rack baronly to engage with said gear at any one time, a transversely slidablemember connected with said rack bars, and a pattern controlledvertically movable member having a pin and cam slot connection with saidslidable member.

11. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, a lay, a plurality ofshuttle boxes mounted on a rotary support at the magazine end of thelay, a gear on said support, a pair of rack bars vertically slidable oneat each side of said gear, means to definitely space said bars apart atall times so that a single rack bar only can engage with said gear atany one time, pattern controlled means to shift said rack barstransversely to cause a selected rack bar only to engage said gear, andpattern controlled means to move said rack bars vertically to shift saidboxes.

In testimony whereof I have hereto afiixed my signature.

ALBERT A. GORDON.

can engage with said 4

